Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

From Good to Great Results

When Kaiser Permanente in California measured its incidence of pressure ulcers in patients three years ago, it found that its rate of 2.8 percent was considered good, at least in comparison with other hospitals. But Kaiser decided it could do ?significantly better? and set a goal to reduce pressure ulcers to less than 1 percent of the health care system?s patients. Reducing pressure ulcers is a difficult task that requires superb nursing skills and a coordinated team effort to provide high-quality care for every patient, according to George Halvorson, chairman and CEO. It also requires excellent documentation and tracking, which was provided by KP HealthConnect, Kaiser?s electronic health record system. For this initiative, Kaiser participated in the Collaborative Alliance for Nursing Outcomes (CALNOC), a database registry of nursing sensitive indicators, which provides actionable information for hospitals and tracks ulcer rates. As a result, from 2008 through 2011, Kaiser reduced the rate of pressure ulcers in patients to 0.6 percent. Other CALNOC hospitals reduced their incidence of pressure ulcers from 3.5 percent to 1.6 percent. For more information, contact Yasmin Staton at yasmin.a.staton@kp.org.